From poster boy to the ugly face of his sport: David Haye's dramatic decline

The most damning and disturbing of all the X-rated images were of David Haye hitting Dereck Chisora with a bottle in his hand, then swinging a metal camera tripod as a weapon.

Revulsion followed those pictures of pornographic violence as they went shuttering around the world.

Boxing, the hardest game of all, recoiled in horror.

Back in the day: David Haye once commanded respect in boxing

British boxing wept as its most recent world heavyweight champion stole out of Munich like a thief in the night. He had pilfered the soul of the sport which has enriched him beyond his boyhood dreams .He had burgled the hearts of we who raised him on a lofty pedestal with responsibility beyond his comprehension.

From hero to zero. From champion to fugitive from the law. From poster boy for the noble art to pariah.The decline and fall of the Hayemaker is almost complete.

All that remains is for the Munich police to conclude whether he should be prosecuted and for boxing in this country to accede to the demand from the German federation that he should never be re-licensed to enter a ring again.

How did it come to this? How recently were we acclaiming Haye for daring to enter the lair of a Russian behemoth who looked as tall as Big Ben and wrench from him that prized WBA belt?

Shame: Haye threw a right hook at Dereck Chisora on Sunday morning

What happened to the talented, handsome and charismatic young Londoner who entertained us all, while knowing all long where the line was drawn between mischievous charm and malevolent insult?

What became of the young man whose quick mind had added broader, more charitable intelligence to the street wisdom of his tough south London boyhood?

Haye had grown not only in stature but in life. His potential to develop into an elite heavyweight had been as exciting as his unification of the world cruiserweight championship.

He brought not only knock-out punching power but imagination to the ring’s marquee division at a time when it was largely populated by strong but sometimes robotic giants.

Most thrillingly of all he delivered his brilliant talent at electrifying speed. That was the hallmark of the Hayemaker we celebrated with such gusto.What happened to him?

King: Haye won the WBA heavyweight title after beating Nikolai Valuev

Fame. That’s what happened. Fame and a disproportionate lust for money over glory. All that and, most unhinging of all, the curse of celebrity.This modern world’s pathetic indulgence of the multi-millionaire superstar sportsman is now reaping a whirlwind which gusted first through football, gathered strength via cricket and rugby and is now blowing a firestorm through boxing.

Sycophancy has bred idols falsified by their belief that they are above the law, accountable only to their own egos and beyond reproach for their actions, no matter how reprehensible.

The unforgiving nature of the trade breeds mostly men with strength of character and a sense of their own perspective – but Haye appears now to reside among the few who come to regard themselves and everything they do as irreproachable.

A drift into denial is a symptom of that syndrome. It was evident in the preposterous statement he issued on Monday in which he compared his vicious contribution to the brawl in Munich’s Olympic hall with his penchant for trash-talking about opponents.

Previous: Haye incensed Wladimir Klitschko before the two fought

The greed which drove his casual belittling of Audley Harrison and his crude insulting of the Klitschko brothers – all in pursuit of pay-per-view television revenue without thought for whether the product might harm boxing – has morphed into self-delusion.

That manifested itself first in his response to his pallid defeat by the younger of the world champion Klitschko brothers, Wladimir, in Hamburg last summer. Not only in the parading of a cracked little toe by way of excuse but in his resentment of the criticism which ensued.

So accustomed had he become to praise that he could no longer recognise his own failings.

If only he could simply have acknowledged Klitschko as a worthy winner that rain-sodden night, we might not have had to witness him wallowing into disgrace in the early hours of this Sunday morning.

Disrespect: Chisora spat water into Wladimir's face before he fought his brother

Chisora was never going to be the man to resist such provocation.Volcanic as they both are, the eruption was as inevitable as the resultant lava burning a trail of devastation across boxing.

If Chisora, a 28-year-old with his fortune still to make but a growing crime-sheet on his record, is to be spared permanent expulsion from the prize-ring then he has to be instructed in the error of his ways. Then he must demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that he has learned that lesson.

His statement might have offered a more promising indication of contrition had it not made oblique reference to the frustrations he believes were inflicted upon him as he approached his game defeat by Vitali Klitschko.

Frustrations? So how would he describe his unprovoked slapping of Vitali’s cheek at the weigh-in and his spitting of a mouthful of water into Wladimir’s face in the ring? The delusion of which Chisora has to rid himself is that he would be a loss to boxing. Accept that, as well as a stiff suspension plus punitive fine, and only then might it be worth giving him another chance.

Back in town: David Haye (left) and Dereck Chisora are both back in England

For Haye, it looks too late now for a U-turn from his retirement. It is easier for the authorities simply to decline any application he may make to be re-licensed.

That hanging up of the gloves always seemed premature. Although it may only have been a ruse to lure another Klitschko into a big-money fight, it now seems irrevocable.

In some ways, that is a pity. His was a talent to decorate the ring. Until he went too far, his showmanship was abrasive but still amusing.

But his audience has been turning away for a while and if the worst happens it might even be down to one.

If he and Chisora do end up in a Germany prison, they should lock them in same cell and close the peep-hole.